Northern gears up for tourney action with pair of wins

Walled Lake Northern is showing signs that it’s ready for another state playoff run as it has won six of its last eight games, including two wins last week, to earn the Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) North Division’s No. 2 seed in this week’s Lakes Conference Tournament.

The Knights (8-8 overall, 6-4 in the KLAA North) began the week with a 69-57 victory on the road at Waterford Kettering on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

After a sluggish first half, Northern woke up in the second stanza and outscored the Captains 45-25 to pull off the comeback victory.

Ryan Soulet led the Knights with 26 points, including 12-for-15 shooting from the floor, to go along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Kevin Piper also had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists while Jared Sheena also had 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Joe Smigielski also scored 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in the second half.

“It goes to show that you never know when your number is going to be called and when it does you have to be ready to step up,” said Northern Head Coach Ron Thompson.

Kettering (9-7, 5-5) was led by Brett Hoffman’s 21 points and Ethan Chizek’s 16 points.

The Knights then welcomed Walled Lake Western for Senior Night on Friday, Feb. 11 and Northern didn’t disappoint its home fans as the Knights came away with a 57-35 victory.

Northern led 36-20 at halftime and outscored the Warriors 22-15 in the second half.

The Knights were led by Garret Chandler’s 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals, while Ryan Soulet had 11 points and 3 steals and Kevin Piper had 8 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.

Kyle Craig led Western (3-13, 1-9) with 10 points.

Northern will open the KLAA Lakes Conference Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 17 by hosting the KLAA West’s No. 3 seed, Howell (6-8).

The winner will face either Huron Valley Lakeland (8-7), the North’s No. 4 seed, or the KLAA West Division champion, Brighton (15-1), on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in the conference semi-final.

A KLAA West team is scheduled to host the semi-final, but if two teams from the same division were to be matched up, the highest seeded team would then host the game.

The KLAA Lakes Conference championship game is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 25, with the highest seed KLAA North team scheduled to host.